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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323924">To a night that harbors eternity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazunyans/pseuds/nazunyans'>nazunyans</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Also graduation itself, Found Family, Gen, Post-Graduation, written to be gen but you may read this as undead poly if you'd like</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:16:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323924</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazunyans/pseuds/nazunyans</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>We won't let it end, our melody in the dark.</i>
</p><p>Rei, and the UNDEAD members he holds dear.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hakaze Kaoru &amp; Oogami Kouga &amp; Otogari Adonis &amp; Sakuma Rei</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To a night that harbors eternity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>written for enstars summer secret santa 2020, my gift is for @ElliatDusk on twitter!! its my first time writing for undead but i had a lot of fun doing so!! hope you like!! :D</p><p>i wanted to make a 5+1 type thing but it. just ended up being 6 things lol</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h5>
  <em> U </em>
</h5><p> </p><p>“Please, may we return to the dorms? Kaoru-kun is very impressive, but I am suffering immensely, and would like to return back to where the sunlight cannot reach me. I was not made for the outdoors and the sun, Kaoru-kun, you <em> know </em> this,” Rei whines from under his umbrella. He certainly looks like he’s suffering—the already-pallid color of his skin looks even paler somehow, and he constantly shakes his feet out, as though to dislodge the sand caught in his sandals.</p><p>Kaoru laughs, a high note that carries outwards over the ocean. He hugs his surfboard closer to himself as he reaches over to grab his drink from the table. Seawater drips off Kaoru’s hair and onto Rei’s only pair of beach-appropriate shorts; Kaoru tries not to let his amusement show on his face as Rei wiggles uncomfortably in his seat. </p><p>“I thought Rei-kun wanted to see me in action?”</p><p>“Not like thiiiis. When you said you were going out, I had thought you had some photoshoot to attend, not-” he sticks his tongue out in distaste, “-a trip to the <em> beach. </em>”</p><p>Kaoru hides his grin behind the soda can. “It’s not that hot out today, don’t be dramatic. I was planning on surfing for another hour or two at least.” </p><p>He nearly chokes on his drink laughing at the look of dismay on Rei’s face.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> N </em>
</p><p> </p><p> Rei had to admit, as much as he was expecting to be ambushed by a good number of different people after the ceremony, he hadn’t expected it to be like this. Of course, the fact that his doggie could sniff out his hiding place shouldn’t be that much of a surprise—he’d always had that ability.</p><p>Said doggie was wiping his face with his sleeves, getting tears and snot everywhere, making an endearing mess of himself—looks like he’d already started the waterworks during the ceremony. Rei patiently waits for him to collect himself, his hand reaching out, unbidden, to ruffle Koga’s hair affectionately. His doggie really is the cutest, he’ll dearly miss seeing Koga yap at him everyday.</p><p>It takes a while, but when he’s more or less done, his head shoots up from his hands. He locks eyes with Rei, and the first thing out of his mouth is, “Gimme your necktie.”</p><p>Rei pauses his petting. “I don’t mind, but I believe it is the second button that most would look for in this case, is it not?”</p><p>“Wh—no! That’s <em> not </em> what I was going for, ya vampire bastard!” Koga argues, even as his cheeks fill with color. He looks much like a fluffy pomeranian like this, yapping angrily at being teased.</p><p>Rei sighs, but grins nonetheless—he’d never refuse a request from his cute junior. He tugs at the knot at his collar, pulling the necktie free, before rolling it up into a neat little bundle. He grabs Koga’s hand and gently places it on his palm. </p><p>“Take good care of this for me, Koga.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em> D </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Sakuma-san. I cannot do this.”</p><p>Straight-laced and abrupt  as ever. Rei is glad some things never change, even after he’d graduated. </p><p>He takes one final sip from his bottle and sets it back down. “Cannot do what, dear Adonis-kun?”</p><p>The boy frowns, like he himself is puzzled by his lack of ability to do the thing. “The dance. I keep messing up the steps, and we keep having to stop. I’m very sorry.”</p><p>Ah. Rei pushes himself to his feet, shoes squeaking on the shiny practice studio floor. “It is no issue, Adonis-kun. We all have difficulty sometimes, and I will not berate you for it. Come here, I will show you how.”</p><p>Never mind that they’re supposed to be having a break. Koga and Kaoru had vanished out the door the moment he called it, leaving only himself and Adonis in the practice studio.</p><p>It looks a lot larger, without the usual comfort of four.</p><p>Rei takes the boy’s hands in his. “Try the steps, but just your feet this time. We can work on this bit by bit together.”</p><p>Slowly, he guides Adonis through his steps; where to put his feet, what he should be doing relative to the rest of them, before he has Adonis try it out to the music. The other two have returned to the studio at this point, and offer bits of advice from where they sit by the mirrors.</p><p>Adonis’ frown is plastered to his face throughout the rehearsal, until finally he runs it through once with no mistakes.</p><p>The wrinkles between his eyebrows smooth out, and his eyes widen in a way that Rei has come to characterize as ‘happiness’, coming from Adonis. Rei feels his own heart sing. </p><p>He pats Adonis on the shoulder. “Very well done, Adonis-kun. Shall we try putting it all together? The two of you, if you would get ready as well, we will run this through from the beginning.”</p><p>Adonis makes it through with only minimal stumbling. Rei is immensely proud and, as the remaining two members clap Adonis on the back, he knows the others are too.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em> E </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Rei is not a fool. </p><p>He knows that as he walked through the hallways of Yumenosaki, whispers and shadows trailed after him like smoke from a fire. <em> Eccentric, </em> they had called him. <em> A genius. An existence made for others. </em></p><p>
  <em> A threat. </em>
</p><p>He knows that very well. He’s seen the effects of their public execution on his dear friends, after all. Sometimes he thinks that it may have been a wiser choice to stay overseas—helping Yumenosaki’s sister academies, but never touching Yumenosaki itself. Or perhaps, if he’d been faster, better, done <em> more </em> for everyone else, he could have prevented that fateful sequence of events from occurring.</p><p>Hindsight is always a very funny thing, when it comes to Rei. Even now, he still has no clue if the choices he’d made were correct.</p><p>(The voices follow him; they plead with him, hate him, thank him, curse him with all they have. They usually don't rise in volume beyond a certain point, but they are always there. Fixed. Immutable. The days they are the loudest end up being the days he does not leave his bed.)</p><p>Perhaps he’s getting slightly too sentimental, in his old age. It is tough, being a mentor and a unit leader while being an idol constantly in the public eye. When he’s stuck in a rut, he thinks, and he thinks, and he does nothing but think of what could have been, but—maybe this timeline isn’t as terrible as it could be. </p><p>After all, he has his own guard doggie following after him instead, doesn’t he? A brave little puppy, louder than the voices, enamored with the Rei steeped in sin. He’d looked at Rei with those sharp eyes of his—and now, two years later, he still does. Straightforward, unchanging, unfailingly loyal.</p><p>His constant presence calms Rei down far more than he’d like to admit. So, perhaps… it might be okay for Rei to relax, now.  </p><p>There is nothing left for him to do here.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em> A </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Oh, how Rei wished he were in retirement, instead of slaving away under a capitalist regime.</p><p>If it were mere live shows and handshake events like the past, he’d be faring better. Instead, due to certain <em>circumstances</em>, their unit is now helping another with their work. Work that involves moving, and action, and their own poor unit being treated as the villains for some kids’ entertainment.</p><p>Yes, he should have read through the document before agreeing to help, but in his defense  he was buried under a mountain of paperwork as it was. He doesn’t have time to read through <em> fine print. </em></p><p>They’re not even in the same <em> company. </em> Rei regrets everything.</p><p>“Sakuma-senpai. Are you alright?” Adonis crouches down next to him, panting lightly. Rei would feel bad that he’d essentially made his junior pick up his slack, if he were not in the process of becoming one with the ground.</p><p>Rei musters the energy to give him a vague wave. A certain red ranger yells his catchphrase on the stage behind him. “As alright as I can be in a situation like this, I suppose. How do they have so much energy, I could never do this more than once ever.” </p><p>“They can get to that stage through training, Sakuma-senpai.” Adonis properly drops down onto the floor next to him. There’s a look in his eyes that says he may not entirely be speaking of the sentai experience. “With enough training, even Sakuma-senpai can stand on stage with  them. It was the same for me.”</p><p>Adonis seems—older, somehow. Not like the closed-off, silent child he’d picked up overseas, but someone who’s spent time growing, and coming out of his shell, bit by bit. It’s a little stilted, but he can tell that this is the boy’s way of encouraging him.</p><p>For the first time that afternoon, Rei flashes a genuine smile.</p><p>If his gentle junior is trying his best to encourage him, well. This foolish senior should do his best as well, shouldn’t he? Rei pushes himself up with a grunt, sliding his helmet back onto his head. He extends a hand to Adonis.</p><p>“Shall we go? I believe there are children excited to see us.”</p><p>Adonis smiles, a tiny, precious thing, and takes his hand.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em> D </em>
</p><p> </p><p>There is no living being that treats Sakuma Rei the way one Hakaze Kaoru does. </p><p>He shows up at the tail end of Rei’s photoshoot, dolled up in pressed slacks and neatly tied hair, breezing his way through the set. He charms a few interns here and there, even the director herself. A bag with Suspicious Contents is passed to the crew, and before Rei knows it, he’s being dragged off to a fitting room and manhandled into a comfortable, yet quite obviously expensive, outfit.</p><p>Hair styled, makeup reapplied—he emerges from the room looking ready for a social event that he doesn’t care for. He feels a lot less threatening than he should as he grumpily marches over to where Kaoru stands, fiddling with his phone.</p><p>“Kaoru-kun, exactly what is—”</p><p>“Now now, no time for that, Rei-kun, come on, we gotta hurry.” He grabs Rei by the hand, dragging him off once again. The staff watch them go, giggling and waving goodbye, like they’re all in on the same joke that Rei <em> isn’t </em>. Traitors, the lot of them.</p><p>They end up in Kaoru’s car, Rei plonked into the front seat as Kaoru slides into the driver’s side. He smoothly pulls out of the parking lot, and then they’re on their way. A rather successful kidnapping attempt, all in all; Rei wonders if he’d possibly been spending too much time with Sena.</p><p>“Not that I disapprove of you spiriting me away like this,” Rei hedges, “but at least tell me where on earth you’re taking me.”<br/>
<br/>
Kaoru glances at him, but keeps his focus on the road. “I could, but where’s the fun in that? You’ve been too wound up lately, Rei-kun, so just trust in me and relax, yeah? You’ll like it, promise.”</p><p>How sneaky. He knows Rei can’t say anything to that without sounding (and feeling) like an ass. With a pout, he settles in for the ride, pulling out his phone and trying out some game the twins had  installed for him. Except the ride doesn’t last as long as he’d thought it would—he’s in the middle of braining out which candy he should swipe in order to make a set of four, when he feels the car come to a stop.</p><p>He looks up from his phone, and cracks his vertebrae whipping his head to glare at Kaoru. The other has the <em> gall </em> to look smug. </p><p>“You dressed me up… for a trip to my own house?”</p><p>Kaoru laughs, reaching over to unbuckle Rei’s seatbelt and open his door. “You’ll see, Rei-kun.”</p><p>Ordinarily, Ritsu would be home, but given that he’s been spending more time in the dorms with Isara lately, he isn’t too hopeful. Still, he lets himself be tugged into his own home, with a key that Kaoru somehow has. How in the world he got that, he has no idea—</p><p>—and then he does, because crowded  in his living room, are the people he most certainly cares about, and then some. The rest of UNDEAD, the twins, his fellow Eccentrics, a few people he vaguely recognizes as Kaoru’s acquaintances,  and at the centre of it all; his dear brother, sleepily curled around a grinning Isara.</p><p>“Anija,” Ritsu says glumly. “You’re late for dinner.”</p><p>“Ah, that would be my bad, sorry,” Kaoru cuts in. “Just got a little lost on the way. You know how it is.”</p><p>“You’ve driven here before.”</p><p>“Again, it happens. Now that Rei’s here, we can start dinner, okay?”</p><p>As glad as Rei is to see his brother and his unitmate getting along, he’s still having slight <em> issues </em>processing the events of the evening. The rest busy themselves with prep and situating themselves around the dinner table, their chattering a welcome contrast to the almost oppressive silence that usually encompasses the house. Kaoru, sensing Rei’s growing distress at being out of the loop, grabs his hand with a tiny smile. </p><p>“I knew you’d forget, so I took the liberty of inviting a few people we like for dinner. Your brother,” he says, nodding his head in Ritsu’s direction, “volunteered your place. Says that if he has to cook for you, he’d rather do it at home than at the dorms.”</p><p>Oh. It’s <em> Ritsu’s </em> cooking on the table there. Rei’s eyes immediately zoom in on the dishes being served, extremely aware of the fact that they’re not as misshapen as they could be. He feels his heart swell about three times larger than normal.</p><p>“Happy birthday, Rei-kun.” Kaoru’s looking at him now, eyes sure and unfaltering. “I can’t thank you enough for sticking with me this long. Here’s to more years together, yeah?” </p><p>Here, among his family and friends, Kaoru’s grin is the warmest thing in the room. Rei can’t help but return it twice fold.</p><p>“I’m looking forward to it, Kaoru-kun.”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i know its only september but shhh. it's their birthday in advance</p></blockquote></div></div>
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